This invention relates to a connection between two members wherein the means of connection are almost entirely hidden. The connection is preferably used to attach a post to adjacent upper and lower horizontal members in a building structure.
Because the means of making the connection are almost entirely hidden from view, the connection of the present invention is particularly suited for building designs where the structural components of the frame of the building are exposed. In such instances, it is often desirable to hide the hardware that connects the structural members.
There are many different designs and types of hidden connectors, with some more visible than others. Generally, if a connector is relatively easy to hide, it is not particularly strong, and conversely, if the method by which the connector is hidden is complicated, the connection made is quite strong.
Most hidden connections involve removing material from one or both of the structural members to be connected. For example, a very common hidden connector is based on a T-shaped member made up of two plates, with the top of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d being connected to the face of one of the members, and the base of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d being inserted into a slot in the other member. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,721, granted to Kazuo Sugiyama. The top of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d is connected by a variety of methods, while the base of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d is connected by means of dowels, screws, pins or nails driven from the sides of the member into the base of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d.
Methods based on the T-shaped plate can be time intensive, and thus generally expensive. They require great accuracy in making the proper sized slots and even greater accuracy in properly positioning the dowels or screws in the base of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d. Often, special tools are needed. Furthermore, if the members to be connected are made of wood and they are not moisture free, severe splitting of the member that receives the base of the xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d can develop around the dowels or pins.
Finally, the saw cuts and the ends of the dowels need to be hidden with wood filler.
Two much simpler forms of hidden connectors are taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,587,788 and 4,854,549.
The first, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,788, granted to Michael D. Bielicki in 1986, uses a plate having a xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d aperture that can receive the flanged head of a fastener. A blind depression is formed in one of the members that is to be joined together, and the plate is inserted into the depression so that its upper surface is flush with or lies below the surface face of the member. The plate is then attached to the member by means of threaded fasteners. A fastener is then set in the other member to be joined. This fastener is formed with a flanged head that can be received in the widest portion of the xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d opening in the plate, but will not slip through the narrower portions of the xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d opening. The flanged fastener head is set above the surface of the member in which it is joined so that it can be inserted all the way through the xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d opening. By inserting the flanged fastener into the widest portion of the xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d opening and then sliding it into the narrower portion of the opening a positive attachment is made in which the means for the connection are hidden.
The connection described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,788 is comparatively easy to make. It is fairly simple to form the depression for receiving the plate, it is a very simple operation to install the fasteners, and the side surfaces of the members need not be disturbed.
The second patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,549, granted to William F. Roberts and Truman D. Collins in 1989, is quite similar in that it has a plate that is received in a depression in one of the members, and that plate attaches to that member by means of screws. It is also similar in that an elongated anchor having a shank is received in the other member to be joined and that elongated anchor attaches to the plate. The difference between the two inventions is that in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,549 the elongated anchor is fused to the plate. This limits the methods by which the connector can be installed, but it still retains the benefits of the earlier invention in that it is still relatively easy to install, and in one of its embodiments it is completely hidden.
The present invention shares the beneficial characteristics of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,587,788 and 4,854,549 and improves upon them.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a connection between two members in a structure.
It is a further object to make such a connection wherein the means for making the connection are completely or almost completely hidden from view.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method by which a hidden connection is easily made.
It is a further object of the present invention to minimize the possibility of splitting the wooden members that are attached by the connection, if wooden members are used.
It is a further object of the present invention to disturb only one face or outer surface of one of the members making up the connection.
The present invention is a connection between a first member and a second member. The connector used to join the first and second members includes the following members: an attachment member, a plurality of fasteners that are received by the attachment member, and an anchor member that is also received by the attachment member.
In one form of the invention, these members are arranged in the following manner with respect to the first and second members. The fasteners are received by the attachment member and anchored in the second member. The fasteners are driven into the second member through the attachment member, thus the heads of the fasteners are closer to the attachment member than the leading tips of the fasteners. At least one of the fasteners lies at an angle to a longitudinal axis of the second member, and the same fastener is also driven at an angle to the central axis of the attachment member, such that the leading tip of the fastener is disposed farther away from the central axis of the attachment member than the driving head of the fastener. The anchor member is connected to the attachment member and anchored to the first member. The anchor member is formed with an elongated shank portion that is received within the first member.
In an alternate form of the invention, none of the fasteners need to lie at an angle to the central axis of the attachment member or the longitudinal axis of the second member. Rather, the attachment member is formed as a funnel-shaped member with tapered side wall portions, and the heads of the fasteners lie between the anchor member and the tapered side wall portions of the attachment member.
In another alternate embodiment of the present invention the attachment member need not be funnel shaped. Rather, it is formed with projections that are inserted into the first member that also receives the elongated shank portion of the anchor member.
In still another alternate embodiment of the present invention, the attachment member need not be formed with projections. Rather, it is formed and positioned in relation to the anchor member such that the anchor member extends deeper into the second member than the attachment member.